I have an '89 4runner which had coolant in the oil. Initially thought head gasket. Head gasket was replaced at substantial cost. Still leaked. New heads were tried. Still coolant in the oil. Cracked block? Any other suggestions? If so, worth fixing? Bought it back for $2200, spent about $500, haven't paid for the new heads and labor, but parts $600 already. Looking @ about $3700 in already. Worth a new motor? Any and all suggestions and comments welcome as long as they are constructive. Thank you.

 

find another motor

 

I have been trying to find a clean 88 or 89 4runner SR5, v6 5 speed with a blown motor. They are perfect candidates for a 3.4 swap. If you aren't into that, used 3.0's can be found at a cheaper price. If you are sick of your rig and its pretty clean, let me know where you are, I'll see if I can take it off your hands.

So bottom line....... It's still a 1st gen 4runner. If its in good shape... It's worth fixing, no mater which way you go about it.

 

I have a 3.0 sitting on the floor that had bad HG's, supposedly, I pulled the whole motor and put a different one in out of a rolled rig.

 

Thank you for the response. It's definitely pretty clean. Not sure Lake Tahoe, CA is very close to you, but I may be more at financial end than wits end. I know the 1st gen 4runner is emotionally worth it to me. I just may need to liquidate what few assets I have left to pay other bills. I was just wondering what it was worth ($) as is and with a rebuilt or remanufactured motor that would cost anywhere from $1000-1300. Or perhaps I can find a 22RE for cheaper somewhere? I'm just over inheriting other problems and sinking more $ into and getting nothing out but more headaches.

 

If its clean and fully loaded with a blown motor, about 2 grand if you are lucky. And doing a 3.0 to 22re swap would just plain suck. I'm doing to reverse, I basically need to turn my 22re rig into a 30 rig to accept the 3.4. I had to get a radiator, transmission, drivelines, oil pressure sender, clutch lines, and the ever elusive frame engine mounts. Trust me, either stay with a 3.0, or find a 3.4 to swap. For ease of use of finances, try to find a running 3.0 out of a wrecked rig. The long blocks will be the same through the years, you will just have to swap some of the electrical components to get it to work.

 

Sorry, I should have specified that it is already a 22RE.

 

hole in timing cover? Pretty common for the timing chain to wear though the coolant passage on the drivers side if the guide rail had broken. Easily missed by most mechanics not completely familiar with these engines.

 

wow it was a shame who ever did the head gasket didn`t know enough to pull the timing cover off and do the timing chain at the same time

About like swapping engines on a manual trans and not putting in a new clutch even though the original one only had 150,000 miles.

This was an expensive lesson I hope others may also have learned something.

One has to wonder what the babbit material looks like after all the coolant in the oil it might be time to reconsider looking into another engine or pulling that one apart and doing the bottom end.